hey guys!!awesome threadI'm having the same problem with my right shoulder Haven't been able to lift since thanksgiving..I been doing cardio to stay in shape 5-6 times a week.Its getting alittle better but still not good enough..something that has been helping is alot of stretching

Hey guys, My doctor just told me my shoulder pain is because of my AC joint. I just wanted to see how recovery has been for those that have had it. Any info would be appreciated.

Hey wannabebig, I separated my shoulder (2nd or 3rd degree sep.) in June'05, I have been trying to rehab since, just doing rotator cuff exercises with bands 2-3 times everyday....stopped working chest for about six months and started back up in January slowly, started with a smith machine just for reps (strict movement on the smith) to allow me to see how bad it hurt or not, then moved on to dumbbells light weights for reps and movement....definitely is better then the last time I have posted on here, but no where near 100%....hope that keeps you motivated

Hows the rest of you guys doing with the shoulder pain any new progress???

Hey guys sorry i have not updated my progress. Well i had my surgery Dec. 16, The first night was pretty painfull, after the shoulder block wore off {they will freeze your shoulder, well more like the whole side of your body } its your choice or they can give you pain killers for when you wake up. So around 3 am the bloke had worn off and i looked at the bottle of pain killers and thought to myself thats not going to be enough pills. But the pain does not really last all that long, i think i took them for about 10 days, and then i was fine. As for weights well, i took about 5 weeks off, did a little cardio just to get in the gym. I did about 7 or 8 sessions of phisio, and started back on the lifting. Real light lots of reps, i did mostly like arms, legs, and basically stuff that did not involve my shoulder. I think its been around 4 weeks now i have been doing my full workout. And everything is coming back fast, real fast, just an example 4 weeks ago i would have done 35 pound flat bench dumbell press for about 10 reps, yesterday i did 90 for 10 reps, and I'm holding back. I don't want to risk injury. Alot more people have this condition and they don't realize it, some worse than others. But I'm really happy with the results so far.

That's great news to hear that things are coming back so well!! I am Scheduled to have the surgery on my AC joint Mar. 29th. I'm pretty nervous about it, but hearing the results from you guys is great! Does your job require alot of physical activity? mine does, So it worries me a little.

I took 2 weeks off from work, but i could have used 3 weeks. My job is also physical, I work in a sheet metal shop, i do set-up's on amada punch press machines. But i still managed, to work around things, used my left hand alot. Did your doctor give you a heal time? My surgeon told me it would take a full year before it's 100 percent, at first i did not believe but i think he is right.

I'm Getting my shoulder done on wed. Mar 29th. My doctor said I'd probably be back to work in about 6 weeks or so. He said it's just gonna take time to be back 100%. I just hate that I won't be able to lift for a while.All the gains go so quickly. What did you have to do for rehab?

BigJay, good to hear you're fine. Wannabebig, I had to do 3 physio sessions per week for about 2 months. The first days are a pain in the ass, but after one week or so, things gonna get easier. Good luck for your surgery

I had the same exact problem. I babied it for months before I finally went to the doc.First it was vioxx that he gave me,then after about three months I still had severe pain I went back and he sent me to a joint surgeon.They told me it was the ac joint.I elected to not have the surgery,and actually quit doing any pressing movements at all for a very long time.It eventually stopped hurting,but man it took forever.Now I am left with a very unsightly knot on the top of my shoulder.I was told it was part calcium buildup,and part collar bone sticking up.I really wish now I would have just had it taken care of.

Tubbs, how are your shoulders are you 100 percent yet. I trained chest today, i did 105 d.b on flat bench for about 8 reps. But incline i find hurts a little more i can get to 85 for 10 reps, i don't push too hard I'm still cautious. gtbro1 its still not too late to fix your shoulder you'll be happy you did. I was really hesitant to have my surgury, but there was 1 guy in our gym who competes in bodybuilding and he told me to go for it, the 2 or 3 months off from training would be good, for my muscles, you know a good rest for them.

Tubbs, how are your shoulders are you 100 percent yet. I trained chest today, i did 105 d.b on flat bench for about 8 reps. But incline i find hurts a little more i can get to 85 for 10 reps, i don't push too hard I'm still cautious. gtbro1 its still not too late to fix your shoulder you'll be happy you did. I was really hesitant to have my surgury, but there was 1 guy in our gym who competes in bodybuilding and he told me to go for it, the 2 or 3 months off from training would be good, for my muscles, you know a good rest for them.

Bigjay, glad to hear you're back in the gym! Same thing for me, I'm very cautious...we have to! I decided to learn from my mistakes: I train my rotator cuffs twice a week, and basically I train 2 weeks heavy (6-12 reps) and one week light (never less than 12 reps) and then I repeat the cycle. Every 2 months I rest one week and I also have deep massage tissue every two weeks.Wannabebig, your r.o.m. will be back to almost 100% in less than 4 weeks, count on that. Good luck and ask us questions if needed.

Just thought I would share my pain with you. I am 29 and have been doing martial arts since I was 6, and weights since I was 14, over the last 2 - 3 years I have experienced several (undiagnosed and untreated) shoulder injuries (I think I separated my shoulder at least twice but did not get any medical assistance !!). From October 2006 I had pain in my right shoulder meaning I could not even lift a weight in a shoulder press or bench press motion.

I had a subacromial AC joint decompression and excision on 27th June 2006. Straight after the Operation I could only move my right arm about 3 inches up from my hip. 2 days later I had full range of motion with only slight pain. The most uncomfortable thing are the stitches in my shoulder. I went to see my physiotherapist today and he gave me a resistance band and said I could do whatever strengthening exercises I see fit. I carried out a few things when I got home and the only real pain I seem to have is when making a motion similar to rear lateral raises. I am astounded by the effectiveness of this operation! I think I have been quite lucky with my rehabilitation being so quick.

I am a Police Officer so I will be on restricted duties for about 3 months, I am not so upset about that, the worst thing is being out of 100% training for so long.

I am a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts instructor so I do a lot of grappling, Punch bag training and Yoga, all of which I will not be able to do with 100% resistance/full power for at least the prescribed 3 months. I appreciate most of you guys are bodybuilders/weight trainers, the movements which we carry out during our workouts are thus very controlled. With Mixed Martial Arts, against a non compliant partner I can not control the movements my arm will be subject to. therefore can anyone give any advice on my safest route back into my sport.

Also I have been using a supplement alongside the usual Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM stack called Biocalth, its active ingredient being Calcium L-threonate. (www.biocalth.co.uk) I think its available in the US ? Does anyone have any experience of using this product, the sales buff seems quite hopeful.

This site has been a life saver for me, I have beeen dealing with ac joint discomfort since Jan. 06,and have had all the same tests and run around I can deal with. I have been bodybuilding seriously for about 9 years and have been lucky enough to avoid any serious shoulder injuries up to this point. This whole year has been very stressful for me and i feel the stress and heavy training have finally caught up with me. I have finally decided to go for the dcr surgery, I am scheduled for this Friday July 7th. My doc told me he is going to do a mini open procedure, this is a small incision (about .5 to 1 inch long) and in the same direction as the crease in your shoulder, Directely over the joint itself. I have read all the posts to date and have finally found some comfort from all you who have gone through this nightmare. I am a little nervous, but am ready to get it over with, I am down in weight from 285 to 255 and cannot deal with the modification of no upper body exercises any longer. I have been riding the bike and killing legs for the past 6 months, but as we all know that just will not cut it for all of us that are serious about our sport. I will tell everyone this, bb bench press is the # one ac joint and rotaor cuff destroyer there is, so beware of this exercise and switch to db's for all chest pressing movements. Another killer is the upright row, totally a joint killer and should be avoided if you plan to have healthy shoulders for any amount of time. For 9 years I have been bench pressing 300, 400,450, pounds and now I know that this weight is not meant for the body to handle, work with your body not against it. I hope to be back 100% after my surgery and look forward to posting my recovery on the forum for others to review and hopefully find comfort in. Thanks for everyone who has posted on the site it has been a big comfort to me and I will post again after my surgery on Friday the 7th.

Well, It's been 4 months since my surgery and I can say that my shoulder is feeling awesome!! It's like having a new shoulder! I've been back to work now for about a month and recovery wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. At first the bruising scared the hell out of me, but that went away pretty soon. Within the first month, I had my full range of motion back. I would definitely recommend this surgery for those of you that have not made up your minds yet.

I also had this surgery, twice on the same shoulder, first time didn't do the trick. It actually was feeling really good for a while there. In fact it felt perfect and i was thinking that i should have my other shoulder done. However lately( last couple of weeks) the shoulder i had the surgery on is bothering me again.

Not sure if i should stop excercising completely for a couple weeks or what i should do. I made an appointment with a physical therapist though to hopefully strengthen the joint and figure out a way to manage my workouts without putting too much strain.

well nobody replied but i will provide an update. i took a full week off from training and pain has subsided. physical therapist says i need to work more on stretching, and pulling my shoulders back more. which involves training my back muscles more and focusing on posture.

i sit at a desk 8 hours a day which i am sure doesn't help with that. she also reccomended laying off overhead presses and even incline.

next week i will resume training and let you know how things progress.

ive got a consultation with orthapeadic surgeon on the 27th of this month, been struggling with mine for over 2 yr now,, i could cry at how may chest has went to mush.. ive went the nhs route as im not made of money, couldnt realy afford to go private, altho i wish i had of done and got the fucker fixed soon as i hurt it...

thing that realy wound me up, had an ultra sound scan on it a few month back, and he tried to tell me it was repetitive strain injury, but i felt a sharp pain out of no where in the middle of a set of flat db presses, was only usung 90's during a warm up, a very managable weight for me... i accept that i may well have repetitve strain injury as well, but theres much more to it than that..

yeah unfortunately for me i think i need to accept the fact that i can't do things that put too much stress on the joint without it flaring up. for me this means, sticking with machines for chest exercises and going light. also i am going to make sure to do rotator cuff exercises regularly.

sounds like others who have had this surgery were more fortunate and able to go back to doing chest with pretty heavy dumbells. maybe at some point i will be able to work dumbells back into the equation. for now i am just going to focus on finding a weekly program that doesn't cause me to have to start popping advils daily.